About Me

Born in the late 60's, Chesy hails from a Welsh mining village with a long name and was pretty glad when he got the Hell out of there. He got into Rock/Metal in about 1980, thanks to a TISWAS related incident (Rainbow video for All Night Long) and thankfully has never looked back.
Chesy often sang solo in the school choir, but thanks to a puberty related incident his voice is now completely bolloxed, although in his own head Paul thinks he sounds like a blend of Coverdale and Dio (R.I.P).
He was brought up on the classics - Deep Purple, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Rush, Whitesnake and loved melodic rock and the Hair Bands of the 80's. (Nowadays, he has progressed a little and prefers a more technical and/or progressive metal - Dream Theater, Rush, Symphony X, Porcupine Tree, Pain Of Salvation, Spock's Beard. He hates Black and Death Metal (can't stand the grunting) but for some unknown reason loves the magnificent Opeth! He wont stop this blog until his beloved FM finally play the likes of the NEC as a headlining act!!!

Tuesday, 23 December 2014

If you don’t know who Alessandro Del Vecchio is then shame on you! Singer, performer, writer and producer are just the main four talents. I’m guessing he is probably Italy’s best chainsaw juggler as well! He has been in Edens Curse, and is a current member of Hardline, and fronts his own band Edge Of Forever. When he's not performing, he is Serafino Perugiono’s (head of Frontiers Records) go to guy for producing, performing and writing. If you want to witness Ale covering all 4 of these bases bases, then look no further than Frontiers Jan release of Revolution Saints where he singly wrote 8 of the 12 songs and had a hand in writing the rest, produced the whole caboodle, performed as keyboardist and provided backing vocals. He even sung one on his own, the Journey-esque 'Way To The Sun.'

I caught Ale on a train ride home….

CRR – ‘Ciao Alessandro, I think I have lost count of the number of albums I’ve heard this year where you have had a presence. You don’t have to name them individually but exactly how many albums have you appeared on in 2014 as a producer, writer & performer?’

Alessandro Del Vecchio – ‘Well….let me think Paul…mmhh….I guess a lot:-) Surely this year has been crazily busy, but busy is good in this business.’

CRR – ‘How on earth do you get the time to do all of these things, your calendar must be rammed full?’

ADV – ‘Well. It’s tough but I am not able to say no. I’m in love with music and music is what keeps me alive. And also, I gotta add I work better under pressure:)’

CRR –‘I suspect you have a very understanding partner?’ADV – ‘Yes, I do.’

CRR –‘What gives you the most satisfaction – writing, performing or producing?’

ADV – ‘All of them. I am easily annoyed if I do the same thing all over again. So shifting from one task to another makes me active and focused.’

CRR- ‘Ive seen you a few times with the likes of Edens Curse / Hardline / Issa, and your voice is fantastic. Would you love to be more front of stage?’

ADV - ‘Sure I do. I’ve been singing on tour with Ian Paice of Deep Purple, Bernie Marsden of Whitesnake, Carmine Appice and with my own band Edge Of Forever. After the summer we will enter the studio with Edge Of Forever for our 4th album. That’s my vocal home. I’m also recording as a singer for 2 albums. One is a metal record and it’s kind of a nice challenge. Vocal parts are more like Russell Allen’s work on “The Damnation Game” than my usual melodic thing. The other one is with Domink Pfizer of Shakra. I also gotta add, I sing on a song on the forthcoming Revolution Saints record. The song is called “Way To The Sun” and Neal Schon of Journey plays a marvellous solo. I guess, you shouldn’t stop dreaming!’

CRR –‘How did the tie in come to your Frontiers work? I guess the Italian melodic rock community is a tight knit one.’

ADV – ‘Well. I guess I knocked the door on the right time. We knew each other already as I did 2 albums with Edge Of Forever on MTM which was distributed by Frontiers back when MTM was a top label. I was looking for a label to work for and they were looking for a producer and songwriter.’

CRR – ‘I guess you cant say no to Serafino?’

ADV – ‘Serafino is great. I mean, our music would be dead without him and the people at Frontiers. How could I say no to the amazing works he makes me do? I owe him a lot. I respect him for he trusted my work and abilities and pushed me to be the producer I am today.’

CRR – ‘Out of all the above work you have done in 2014, which is the one thing that has stood out for you?’

ADV – ‘Writing, producing, recording, playing, singing and experience my top work ever with Revolution Saints. Being in the studio with Deen Castronovo, Jack Blades and Doug Aldrich is more than I could dream of. Not bad for an Italian:-)’CRR –‘What are your plans going into next year?’

ADV – ‘I’m in the studio now with Craig Goldy and Vinny Appice for Livin’ Out Loud, their new band. I’m actually completing writing the newHardline record and we should start recording in spring if inspiration helps me on the last few touches on the song. In February we should start working on the new solo record by Ted Poley. I’m also producing the finest voice in metal which is gonna be awesome:-)'CRR – ‘Despite being the hardest working man in ROCK, what is the one thing you would like to do as a performer/writer/producer?Is there one person/band etc you would love to work with, or just one thing you would desperately love to achieve?

ADV – ‘Ok, Santa. Please let me enter a big act like Whitesnake or Foreigner, produce and write for Journey and be the guy who is taking Steve Perry back on a record. Hey, didn’t I say you shouldn’t stop dreaming?’ Or should that be Believing??

CRR - Any last message to the AOR community?

ADV - 'I would like to thank all of the people who supported me through the years buying my music and helping me being who I am today. My biggest challenge is to keep my love for music fresh and alive every day and be the guy who is gonna help people feel better with my music.'

So there you have it. Talented songwriter (His songs for Revolution Saints are the type of quality that Neil Schon would kill his cat for), great producer, in demand performer for keyboards and BVs, but most of all a truly great singer who deserves to be heard by many more. To top it all of, he is also one of the nicest, down to earth people I've had the privilege to ever meet. I wish him great success in 2015 and beyond

Sunday, 21 December 2014

Now I may have stated this before, but I didn’t
expect that Lebanon has much of a metal scene, if at all a metal scene.
Thankfully rock music (and music in general) transcends countries, boundaries
and most religions without incident or prejudice. That said, I expect many a
terrorist suspect has had to be water boarded to the charms of One Direction.
Shit! They wouldn’t even need to put the towel over my face if I had to listen
to that shite.

Anywho, a couple of gentlemen seem to be
bringing Lebanese metal to both the Lebanese and the greater Worlds masses. Lebanese
Guitarist Amadeus Awad and vocalist Elia Monsef join forces one
more time to bring The Book Of Gates (Power Prog2014) under the NameAmadeus
Awad's EON;A Progressive Metal Opera EP with Oriental elements
featuring members from, Symphony x, Avantasia, Kamelot, Trillium, ARK, OSI,
Dream Theater, Myrath, and Ostura which
isn’t a bad little gathering I hope you agree? It’s the follow on from last
years Schizanimus.

Amadeus Awad, has been proudly dubbed in the western media as the Arjen
Lucassen of the Middle East, is a Lebanese guitarist/composer/lyricist
& mastermind of many projects. Hopefully, unlike Arjen, Amadeus hasn’t got
an issue with performing live! Along with Elia Monsef, who is the voice of
Amadeus Awad and Ostura;is a
Lebanese singer/composer/lyricist/filmmaker/and producer. The names they have
managed to blackmail is a rather good list – Russell Allen of Symphony X,
Amanda Somerville (Avantasia, Trillium, Kamelot), Kevin Moore (Dream Theater,
OSI, Chroma Key), John Macaluso (Ark, Malmsteen, Riot, James Labrie)

In the quest for an
afterlife, kings die, queens betray and priests use religious manuscripts to
control the minds of the people. Relying on a vision in a dream, the queen
claims she discovered the elixir of divine mortality, a suicide by a serpent's
venom on a full moon night will grant the king an afterlife. Blinded by love,
the king swallows the drops of greed and dies, only to be faced with what
appears to be the deceptions of the gods of Egypt who plot to send him back to
kill the queen. Once he is back, a simple question rises as bright as a
thousand suns, is he back because the queen said the truth, or because Ra wants
to punish her?

It’s a fairly short
running time at 22 minutes. But what it lacks in listening time it makes up for
in undoubted quality. If you like prog metal with touches of Avantasia, Ayreon,
Kamelot, Symphony X, OSI and Amasseffer, then Eon will hit your sweet spot. It all begins with 'Visions' a 2 minute warming up for the main event. See it as the calm before the storm....! 'The Book Of Gates' covers the prog bases, concept album? Yes! Multi national performers? Double
yes! It moves effortlessly from progressive metal, to oriental, to symphonic
metal – and that’s just in ‘The Crowns Fate’. The triptych vocals of Monsef,
Allen and Somerville interact for a prog storytelling of golden nugget
proportions.

The Book Of gates carries
on where TCF left us, its heavy, pulsating riffs from Awad driving the whole
concept forward and never faltering. Monsef’s vocals are a close second to Allen’s
booming styling. Awad is a guitarist to watch out for if you’ve not come across
him before

The EP is almost over before
it seems as it it’s begun, but Incarnation makes it 20 odd minutes of prog
pleasure! Powerful riffs explode around your ears, and when cranked (which lets
face it is the only way to listen to metal) is one for letting go of any of the
days frustrations. Eon perform as good as many of their peers and it is an
unexpected delight in 2014

Today it seems fairly easy
to get a cast together for a project that will perform on your album, leaving
us a possibility of diluted content for us the fans and listeners. It could easily
have been the case here. Awad and Monsef have chosen their pack carefully, by not
making it a huge cast and have hand picked performers that complement and
contrast each other’s styles perfectly. All in all it’s a prog metals fans
delight.

I look forward to the guys
giving us (hopefully) a longer piece of music to match the output of the likes
of Dream Theater etc. They are certainly capable.

In the Special edition release is a Bonus EP,
Schizanimus (MRR2013) an ambient Progressive rock EP that the Duo worked
on and released as a solo Album by Amadeus Awad in 2013.

Remember washing powder/ detergent ads the
last 20-30 years? “For a newer, brighter white, choose Daz! Its much better
than before” Basically pouring scorn on the previous version. Well, the same
principle applies here with Revolution Saints. Cue voiceover guy…”For a new,
improved Journey, choose the new Revolution Saints! Now with added SPs (that’s
Steve Perry’s – plural, not singular)”, as Deen Castronovo and Arnel Pineda
(Pineda appears on ‘You’re Not Alone’. Heck they even rope in Neal Schon for
axe slinging duties on ‘Way To The Sun) are probably the best sounding Steve
Perry’s in the business. Any discerning Journey fan that’s seen them these past
few years will testify how good a singer Castronovo is.

Its shocking to anyone that knows, why the
hell Castronovo has waited this long to front a band. Thankfully the Don of
AOR, Serafino Perugino has the clout to make such things happen.

Basically, what I’m saying is that
Revolution Saints is the album that the 21st Century version of
Journey has been longing to make. So what we have are snappy, catchy choruses,
more melody, AND at least one (but sometimes 2) Steve Perry’s on board. I’m
also guessing that with Alessandro Del Vecchio on board, make that 3 x Perry’s!
Jokes aside, I’m doing Castronovo a huge disservice, as he is his own singer –
and a great one at that.

Add Jack Blades and Doug Aldrich and it’s
an AOR-sters wet dream. “Nurse, more towels!” Castronovo handles most of the
vocal duties, and there are a couple of co-lead vocals with Blades. Even Del
Vecchio wades in his talents to “Way To The Sun’’

So, what do we have pop pickers? Well,
after a few spins, there’s some pretty good stuff going on, and the Journey
reference isn’t a piss-take, its pure fact! ‘Back On My Trail just screams
quality AOR. Excellent vox from Castronovo, with harmonies topping off the whole
event. I didn’t expect a guitarist like Aldrich to play in a band like this,
but understated like Schon on many a Journey song, Doug lets his guitar do the
talking, subtle one minute then coming alive and exploding for the solos. ‘Turn
Back Time’ sees Night Rangers Jack Blades alternating with Castronovo on joint
vocals. For ‘You’re Not Alone’, the Journey factor is increased with Arnel
Pineda joining them for what is a very addictive bridge and chorus.

The Journey factor goes off the scale for ‘Way
To The Sun’ as RS rope in Neal Schon for geetar duties. Its a belting song,
gentle then building to a crescendo, and yet again is a beautifully crafted
piece with Schon doing what only Neal Schon is capable of. ‘Dream On’ is as
close to a classic Steve Perry fronted Journey as you’re likely to get this Millennium,
and would fit in the Escape / Frontiers era without a doubt. The pace doesn’t
let for the latter half of the album either, with the heavy ‘How To Mend A
Broken Heart’, ‘Don’t Walk Away’, and ‘In The Name Of The Father’ standing out.

Del Vecchio has pieced this altogether
excellently and is proving to be a talented go-to producer for Frontiers

Based on what I’ve seen as a ‘meh’ line up
for this years Frontiers Festival when compared to the first, its screaming for
a band like Revolution Saints to be on the bill and give the festival a quality
kick up the arse. That said, Frontiers seem to have the market sewn up for
quality melodic rock, with Revolution Saints adding undoubted quality and
giving them a great start to 2015. Long may it and they(Frontiers), continue.

Save your pennies for the deluxe version as
it includes alternate versions, and a making of DVD with 4 accompanying videos

Score – 88/100

Tracklisting –

Back On My Trail

Turn Back Time

You’re Not Alone

Locked Out Of Paradise

Way To The Sun

Dream On

Don’t Walk Away

Here Forever

Strangers To This Life

Better World

How To Mend A Broken Heart

In The Name Of The father

Revolution Saints are –

Deen Castronovo – Lead Vocals, Drums

Jack Blades – Bass, vocals on Turn Back
Time and Way To The Sun

Doug Aldrich – Guitars

Featuring

Alessandro Del Vecchio – keyboards, backing
vocals, vocals on Way To The Sun

Friday, 12 December 2014

Well folks its that time of year again
for a totally (un)biased review of this years (well, my) fave albums. On a good month 3000-5000 visit CRR towers a month and I thank you sincerely for that. Why not
subscribe like the 3 other people who fancy a regular dose of what
chesyrockreviews has to offer. Go on, ya know ya wanna!!

2014 has been another decent year for
fans of all genres of rock music, especially that involving a DeLorean! What I mean is that some of the best albums this year have come from bands that have their influences planted firmly in the pas.

To be totally honest to all the bands,
10 thru to 3 had nothing in them at all, they were all so close its merely a matter of
personal preference. If you are in 10-3 then your albums been pretty awesome
indeed!

Some of the placings may not be the same as their original score, especially as Ive now had time to live with some of these albums over the last 12 months. This is how they stand at the year end

20. Secret - The End OfThe Road
Melodic Rock.com provided us with a little nugget here. Remember 91 Suite from a while back? Jesus Espin and Ivan Gonzales rocked my little world with the belting Here With Me,

18. Work Of Art - Framework
Sall and Safsund hit the ground running a few years back with their debut and took the melodic rock community by storm. Their 3rd release continues with the high quality and puts them at the top of the tree of the melodic rock brigades finest

17. Bailey - Long way Down
Should have been called Long Way Up based on the time its taken to get recognition. Mr Bailey suddenly appeared on many a fans list in 2014. Not a spring chicken by any means, he appears here with the first of 2 entries. In The Name of The King, is not only a standout track on LWD, but its one of the tracks of the year.

16. John Wesley - Disconnect
Mighty fine stuff from the Porcupine Tree guitarist throws down the gauntlet to the prog community. Excellent guitar work and a bloke performing at the top of his game. Check out the work on 'Any Old Saint'. Not the best singer but he works to his strengths

15. Blues Pills - ST
These young Swedes have exploded onto the scene in 2014 thanks to a lot of Classic Rock Mag exposure, and rightly so. Its wonderful that such young kids want to play music with its feel planted in the 70s. When you have an exquisite singer like Elin Larsson, anything is possible. Looks gorgeous, and sings with a passion that few can match. Catch them live for the full blown experience

=13Vega - Stereo Messiah/ Ten - Albion

Vega - the Martin boys certainly know how to write an anthem or ten! Christ! They even have Leppards Joe Elliott on their side and that is one heck of a trump card.

Ten - Gary Hughes only knows one word when it comes to his Ten band, and thats 'epic'. If you thought they peaked around 1996, guess again! Albion is their finest to date

12. Three Lions - ST
(Bailey, Burns & Morgan) knocked their debut out of the ball park. Polished with a capital 'P'. Hold Me Down, Holy Water, Twisted Soul, Kathmandu, Trouble In A Red Dress are just some of the nuggets on offer. Live is where the magic happens.

11. Slash - World On Fire
Slash has brought the world to the attention of Myles Kennedy. Us Alter Bridge fans have known of his splendour for many a year now. Thankfully he is now recognised as one of rocks finest. On World On Fire Slash, Kennedy and the Conspirators align their sights for the best Slash album yet

10. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope is, as Kaleidoscope does. As it brings
together the rich colours that are the 4 guys individual personalities,
background and influences, and entwine all this into a sonic tapestry, and it makes
for a very unique band and listening experience.

9. Angels Or Kings - Kings Of NowhereIf you love melodic rock and love well crafted little
nuggets of gold then look no further than ‘Kings of Nowhere’. Barrie Jackson sings his little arse off on delights such as Any Other Girl and Ice Turned To Rain.

8. California Breed - STGlenn Hushes, Andrew Watt, and Jason Bonham nail the Classic Rock tag with this little beauty. Bonham's no longer a part, but who cares as its the Hughes / Watt show anyway. Check out Hughes solo rendition of Breathe on you tube and tell me that at a mere 62 yrs of age, he is not the finest singer of his or anyone else's generation

7. Anathema - Distant SatellitesEver since We're Here Because We Are Here, Ive taken even more of a shine to Anathema. Distant Satellites continues in a rich vein of form. Forever growing and developing, Anathema just need the money to go with the plaudits. Full of emotion and creation

6. Kill It Kid - You Owe Nothing.Two weeks ago I never even heard of Kill It Kid. After hearing You Owe Nothing I had to make room in the Top 10. FFS give it a few more weeks it could be even higher than 6. 'Caroline' is just exquisite. Kill It Kid will be huge, mark my words!

5. Overland - EpicEpic is a mighty fine testament to one of
the finest singer songwriters the UK has produced…EVER. Overland has the melodic rock songbook nailed to a tee – so what
if music is sometime formulaic – if you have the right recipe, why tamper and
bollox the whole thing up. Essential for fans of THE VOICE and FM

4. Opeth - Pale CommunionNo longer a death metal pioneer. Akerfeldt clearly wants to do what pleases himself, and quite rightly so. Moving on from the sideways step they took with Heritage, Pale Communion leaps forward and is a sophisticated, thinking mans (and womans) prog classic.When he isnt screaming, Akerfeldt is one of my fave singers, ever. Thankfully theres a shit load of singing on Pale Communion!

3. In Faith - There's a Storm ComingFuck Me I didnt see this coming. Looking like 3 middle age geezers, In Faith's cream rose to the very top with this blistering melodic rock masterpiece. Think of some of the best hair metal bands of the 80s - White Lion, Dokken etc. Well, In Faith sits very comfortably amongst such talent. It has more hooks than a fishing tackle shop and choruses to die for. Anyone who writes a song called Church Of Rock And Roll deserves plaudits. Pete Godfrey is a new rock god!

2. HEAT - Tearing Down The WallsHEAT are at the forefront of modern day melodic and classic rock. Full of energy, and every song is huge....HUGE! HEAT beat Bon Jovi at his own game. They are on the cusp of breaking out and truly deserve to be plying their trade at arenas

1. Rival Sons - Great Western ValkyrieTipped for the top back in 2011, Rival Sons are well on the way to greatness. One of the finest albums of this or any other year, GWV is chock full of killers. Buchanan is a man on a mission, totally captivating, and probably one of the finest vocalists in the world, period. Couple his voice with the wizardry of Scott Holiday and the pounding rhythm of Mike Miley and Dave Beste and GWV is the finest No.1 Album Ive had the pleasure to list in my 8 years of doing this reviewing malarkey.

Friday, 21 November 2014

Earlier in the year I reviewed the Three
Lions cd, and incurred the very polite wraith of Mr. Bailey when I suggested
that the 3L album started off as a solo project for Nigel Bailey. That was not
the case, and I now publically apologise.

Now the wait is over…for it is time for Bailey
– Long Way Down to be let loose on a melodic / classic rock loving crowd.

This time last year I doubt any of us have
heard of Nigel Bailey. Thankfully, what a difference a year makes - the 3L
album is a peach, and if you loved that little nugget then Bailey, “Long way
Down” is a little gem that will be cherished like Gollum’s ring (F’narr!
F’narr!). Based on the fact that Mr B isn’t exactly a young whippersnapper,
perhaps Long Way Up might have been more appropriate?

Thankfully he has the very influential ear
of Serafino Perugino, Head of Italian label Frontiers, and is a man on a
mission to bringing classic rock/ melodic / AOR back to the forefront of a
genre that’s needed right kick up the arse for a few years now. With Perugino
comes the ‘go to’ guy for production, twiddling, occasional keyboards and
backing vocals, Alessandro Del Vecchio. As you would expect it is mostly an
Italian affair with Mario Percudani (Guitars), Alessandro Mori (Drums),
Alessandro Del Vecchio (Keyboards), and finally a British/Serb Bailey (brother
Andy) providing backing vocals.

What do you get? Well, if a well crafted,
polished and crafted set of songs is your delight, then look no further than “Long
Way Down”. If anything it’s a slight side step from 3L, but only a small step.
Nigel has a love of a bridge and a chorus that few can muster. Couple this with
a heavier / rockier edge than the Lions and hopefully you get my drift. “Feed
The Flames” accentuates NBs vocal talents, and what with Perducani’s guitar, it
makes for a song that will have many a soon to be fan rocking in their living rooms.
“In The Name Of The King” comes out of the starting blocks like a fighter jet.
Not only does it have a great riff, the whole thing makes it one of the tracks
of the year. “Dirty Little Secret” is standard AOR fare (not in a bad way), but
now’t new either; the chorus lifts it above the standard. “Bad Reputation” is
obviously where Bailey gets its kicks, as BR gives it some welly in the heavy
department. Throw in some funk like Extreme and a kick ass solo and enjoy the
groove. If a bigger band had written this, we’d be waxing lyrical, such is the
quality.

“Stay” and “Somewhere In Oslo” are
something akin to what pretty much every band wrote in the late 80s, and are
charming enough in a FM kind of way. Title track “Long Way Down” with its
muscular riff again puts the pedal to the metal and rises to the top of the
pile. “Spend The Night’ with its acoustic intro signals its ballad intent right
from the off; but throw in some emotional vocals and a tad of guitar and is no
doubt a rock sonnet to Mrs. Bailey. The next couple of songs “Love Falls Down”
and “Ticket To Yesterday” could easily have been written for Three Lions. The
highlights for me is when Bailey lets loose and goes for the heavier end of
melodic / classic rock, and “Dirty Angel” is the Ronseal guarantee - it does
what it says on the tin. Its an ‘in your face, kick you in the nads, thank you
and goodnight’ song and a very good way to finish off the album.

All in all it fits in well with Frontiers
roster of high quality, polished, well-produced artistes. Bailey has used his
experience of playing the pubs and clubs, and honed his craft to become one of
the rock highlights (as 3L and Bailey) of 2014.

Like the Guinness tagline of the 90s, ‘Good
things come to those who wait’. I sincerely hope this is the case for Nigel
Bailey.